Mattel To “Aggressively Pursue” New Licenses After Losing DC

This past week, Warner Brothers announced that toy makers Spin Masters have signed a new deal to make toys featuring characters from DC, such as Batman, Superman and Aquaman.   This new deal starts in 2020, which is when Mattel’s current deal expires and Michael Ng, a market analyst for Goldman Sachs, told Bloomberg that he is predicting Mattel is going to be “aggressively pursuing” new licenses.

Hasbro’s deal with Disney for it’s Star Wars and Marvel toys also expires in 2020.  So there is a strong possibility that Mattel might try to make a deal with Disney for these licenses.

However, Hasbro has been making Star Wars toys since 1991, so while Star Wars toys have been suffering recently from lackluster sales due to movies like Solo: A Star Wars Story and The Last Jedi, they’ve been in the business long enough to see ups and downs.

It’s been a tough few years for all toy makers, with retailers like Toy’s R Us closing down and children playing less with physical toys.  So the companies will have to be smart in not over paying for a license.  But a bidding war between Mattel and Hasbro could be on the cards for the rights to make Marvel and Star Wars toys.

Do you think Mattel will go after the Star Wars & Marvel licenses?